


Settle For a World Neither Up or Down

by orphan_account



Series: Shuffle Songfic Challenge [1]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bands, Alternate Universe - Human, Blow Jobs, Drummer Nico di Angelo, M/M, Minor Jason Grace/Piper McLean, Past Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Piercings, Singer Percy Jackson, Songfic, Woops, and oops it turned into porn, is it a songfic if its inspired by a song?, its a band AU baybee, kind of?, okay so the definitions differ, to be clear: its inspired but does not include actual lyrics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2020-07-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:00:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25231255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Percy is just kind of tired of being expected to grow up and settle down. So him and his band drive their beat-up minivan to a city where no one knows them, and that's where he meets Nico di Angelo, their new drummer and increasingly distracting flatmate.
Relationships: Nico di Angelo/Percy Jackson
Series: Shuffle Songfic Challenge [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1827919
Comments: 1
Kudos: 71





	Settle For a World Neither Up or Down

**Author's Note:**

> inspired very roughly by Steady as she goes - The Raconteurs (that's where the title is from)

Percy’s only regret was disappointing his mom, but other than that, going on tour instead of to uni was the best decision he’d ever made.  
Everyone assumed he’d grow out of it, study at some fancy college, then take over the family business, marry his high school sweetheart and give his parents some grandkids.  
Everyone being his father’s side of the family, and the yearbook committee.  
But Percy didn’t want to settle, he didn’t want to carry on “going steady” with his girlfriend, he didn’t want to be a carbon copy of his father.  
So he graduated with his passing grades (his father couldn’t “fix” his dyslexia, no matter how much money he threw at it), wrote a goodbye note on a post-it stuck to the fridge (mainly to his mom), broke up with his girlfriend (she gave him a kiss on the cheek and told him he’d see her again in Forbes 30 under 30) got into his best friends beat-up minivan they’d painted themselves and smelled like tacos, and he left.  
They’d decided to call their last-minute escape a tour. 

It was exciting, to say the least. They’d started out small, like, really small, just him and Jason and Grover playing in Grover’s garage for fun. Percy had been on the guitar then, and Jason did some rough vocals, until a drunken karaoke led to Percy being elected lead singer and Jason took over on the guitar, switching Percy’s acoustic for his flashy electric. Grover played the flute, and they had tried desperately to get him to play the drums instead, but they had made it work, kind of.  
Thank God for Piper though.  
While Percy’s girlfriend hadn’t necessarily disapproved of the “band”, she wasn’t all that interested in it. Jason’s girlfriend was not only interested, but over-qualified. She played the keyboard and the drums, and the songs she wrote seemed to fit them like a glove. Additionally, she played a huge role in getting them out of the garage, getting them what they considered their first gig (it was a sweet sixteen minus the sweet, considering it was Clarisse la Rue).  
And she’d brought along a bassist, Leo, which pretty much solidified their sound. He was also the one who sorted all their tech when they actually did play, and ensured they stopped for food when they were out at 5 am. 

The first few months were a mix of rocky and heaven. They played in bars, they recorded songs and burned CDs, Percy and Grover tried busking a few times (people liked the flute, it turned out), and they’d ended up in a city where no one knew them as “the garage band from high school”.  
Life was good. Jason and Grover worked part-time as bartenders, Percy and Leo worked full time as baristas, and Piper was still cruising on a weekly allowance and two shifts a week at their local grocery store. Their apartment was cosy, to say the least.  
There was still a piece missing though. And it drove them crazy not knowing what it was. 

“You should see if he comes back, blow him a kiss or wink or something, make him swoon!”  
Leo was gesturing wildly, unfortunately with his pizza-slice-holding hand, and teasing Percy about the cute guy that had stayed through their entire set, bought a CD and dropped 20 bucks into their donation box.  
Percy rolled his eyes fondly.  
“He didn’t really look the swooning type,” he said, ignoring Piper’s annoyingly knowing look. 

When the guy showed up again, Percy couldn’t resist throwing in a flirty wink, and the blush that spread across his freckled face was worth the embarrassment. The guy didn’t buy their CD again (which was a given, but it would have been funny if Percy had fried his brain so much he did it twice), but he did do something else, something unexpected. 

“I noticed all your songs with the keyboard aren’t performed with any drums,” he said in lieu of a hello! or a nice set you played! or anything like that.  
Percy started to say something, but Piper cut him off.  
“I’m the keyboardist, but I’m also the only one who plays the drums. It’s one or the other I’m afraid,” she said, plastering on her best customer service smile (two shifts a week is still time spent dealing with asshole shoppers, and two shifts a week too many).  
The cute guy stammered and started fiddling with his sleeves.  
“No-uh, no that’s uh- no I didn’t mean to sound like I was critiquing, I love your music, actually, I was just um, I uh…”  
It looked like he lost his nerve halfway. Piper’s fake smile had slipped away and been replaced with her trademark skewed smile, eyes sympathetic.  
Spluttry shy guy took a breath and, without taking another, blurt out without a break, “IplaythedrumsandI’dreallyliketojoinyouguys.”  
There was an almost comedic silence.  
“Come again?” Percy asked, but he had a feeling he’d understood.  
“I play the drums and, I dunno, if you guys want a drummer in your songs with keyboard in them I could help out, I just love your sound and it really goes with mine and you probably get this a lot-”  
“How old are you?” Jason cut in. Cute self-proclaimed drummer opened his mouth, but Leo beat him.  
“First, what’s your name?” he asked, and Percy just knew everyone was mentally face-palming that they hadn’t asked that first.  
“Nico, and I’m 18. My birthday was in January, so, just barely, but I am 18,” he said, still rambling a bit. Dammit if Percy didn’t find it a little bit adorable.  
Piper crossed her arms over her chest.  
“Let’s hear you play then.”

Nico was good. He loved Piper, he really did, but she was really meant for the keyboard. And it wasn’t as if they could refuse him, with his big puppy dog eyes and yes, maybe Percy was crushing a bit. Who could blame him! And judging by the way Nico was eyeing Percy’s lips, he had a thing for him too.  
But he couldn’t just jump the guy while he was settling into their lifestyle (highly glamorous, including an incredibly unreliable sleep schedule, the saught after delicacy of freezer meals and several blow-up mattresses). 

Once that excuse wore off, he couldn’t deny it was just nervousness keeping him from Nico. He’d managed to “improve their vibe”, as Grover put it, to the point where they were actually making reliable incomes on band-related activity alone. Whether it was Piper’s new freedom or Nico’s amazing drum skills was hotly debated by everyone but Piper and Nico.

And Percy had come to the surprisingly mature conclusion that throwing a spanner in the works by trying to date a fellow band member (Piper and Jason didn’t really count considering that they’d been dating before Piper joined, and also before they even considered that the band would have reason to stay together if one of them split) wasn’t the best course of action. This was made easier by the fact that Nico had started avoiding him like the plague if it was just the two of them. He was nice and polite with the group, he played fantastically, but he never met Percy’s eyes. It seemed to him that the puppy love of being a fan had worn off and Nico didn’t want to encourage Percy. 

But man that was difficult, especially when he and Leo stumbled in one night with matching lip piercings. Percy was, until that moment, unaware he had a thing for lip rings. So now, every time he saw Nico’s nervous chewing and licking of his lips, Percy’s mind went to the same place all his blood went to.  
But he held it together.  
Nights of drunken stumbling into their apartment and all flopping down on the couch, wrapped up around each other in a careless puddle of limbs was fine, it was normal, but the one time Nico was at his arm, giggling, flushed red and falling over his own feet was just too much. There was only so much he could take.  
But he held it together. 

And then one night, they were alone, somehow, and tipsy, unsurprisingly, sitting on the kitchen floor and Percy just wouldn’t shut up.  
“You know, I really thought you had a thing for me when you first showed up,” he said, grinning like an idiot. Half of his brain was screaming oh my god you’re making it awkward! and the other half was trying to get over how pretty Nico’s eyes were.

“I really thought you had a thing for me too,” came the answer, more sober than Nico looked.  
Hold it together.  
Nico began to bite at his lower lip.  
Ah fuck it.  
“I did, well I mean, I still kinda do, want you, you know, like- but you know, fan puppy love doesn’t last forever so I wouldn’t expect you to-”  
Nico was suddenly in his lap, crowding Percy against the fridge, and Percy could feel his breath against his ear.  
“How much do you want me?” he asked, and fuck, Percy was gone, self-control be damned.  
He wound his hand up to the back of Nico’s head, letting his fingers spread through his hair (god, his hair was so soft).  
“Kiss me?”  
Percy wasn’t even sure which one of them said it, but seconds later Nico’s lips were on his and he felt like he was going to float away.  
Nico leaned into the kiss, and Percy licked over the ring in his lip, and wow, that was just as hot as he had imagined. Nico’s hands were at his waist, tugging at his shirt, and Percy’s hands were everywhere, one in his hair, tugging softy and (holy shit) making Nico groan against his mouth, and the other sliding down his side, gripping him just tight enough to really feel it.  
They pulled apart, and for a second, and the anxiousness was back, pulling at his insides. But Nico smiled, a soft and sweet thing, and he wrapped his arms around Percy’s neck and everything felt perfect. Then Nico’s hot breath was back against the shell of his ear and Percy was going to pass out if any more blood rushed to his dick.  
“Do you need me to show you just how much I want you?”  
Percy could do nothing but nod and let out an embarrassingly needy noise. Suddenly Nico’s lips were kissing along his jaw, biting softly, then sucking what he hoped were dark hickies along his neck, and his hands, oh lord, his hands were skimming the top of Percy’s belt. His fingers slipped the buckle open, then his fly, and then his hands were brushing against his bulge in a manner he could only describe as-  
“You tease,” he managed to gasp, and Nico’s eyes flashed with challenge before ducking down lower, licking across his hipbone. Every touch felt searing hot, and he was desperate to memorise them as they came but it ended up in a blurred, aching flurry and before he could process it, Nico’s hand was wrapped around him and Percy could feel the ghost of his mouth against it. He couldn’t help the slight jerk of his hips, blushing bright red as Nico raised his brows.  
“Impatient, are we?”  
Before Percy could reply, Nico wrapped his lips around him and, good god, he could feel his piercing cold against the skin and it drove him wild. He felt a low noise spill out from him and could feel Nico’s smirk around him.  
“Fuck,” was all he could manage, and Nico hummed in agreement, sending Percy into a state. His hand was back in Nico’s hair, each tug rewarded with a vibrating moan around him and pulling him closer to the edge. God, it would be embarrassing if he came, but he honestly wouldn’t blame himself, Nico looked like pure sex, eyes wide, pupils blown, cheeks hollowed and a messy trail of spit down his chin and holy shit that piercing sliding up and down was enough to make anyone finish.  
Nico pulled off and the bright red of his lips was all Percy could think about. He wrapped a hand around him, tugging lazily, smug and gorgeous.  
“Don’t hold back,” he ordered (and Percy would have done anything he said without hesitation), before taking him entirely into his mouth sucking hard and then he looked up Percy, eyes hooded, lips swollen, and Percy came with Nico’s name on his lips.  
The rest of the night was a mess of sloppy kisses and sloppier confessions.  
They’d figure out the rest later.

**Author's Note:**

> so i did this thing where i wrote au ideas based on songs that came up on shuffle and then it turned into general fic ideas and whaddya know I wrote some stuff and I'm calling this series the Shuffle Songfic Challenge feel free to try it out yourself and I have no idea if its been done before  
> I'm sorry if you did not expect me to write porn, it just got out of hand so quickly and i might have a thing about piercings.


End file.
